The new rules of engagement

By Rick Armellino

Run fast, and shoot straight. Early contact is the key.The armed homicidal/suicidal criminal is quickly becoming a serious safety threat to the general public, especially our schools. Modern day law enforcement agencies have been independently developing tactics that supersede traditional methods of handling murderous individuals’ intent upon the random killing of innocents in publicly accessed areas.

Immediate Action Rapid Deployment (IARD) is a term used to describe a predetermined procedure that empowers, trains and equips first responding patrol officers to instantly react to potential armed individual(s) by establishing swift contact with the perceived threat. When possible, making contact should be accomplished prior to the armed individual(s) becoming active shooters. The goal is to proactively minimize injury and death to innocents by positioning ballistically protected officers in close proximity with the threat, so that accurate application of deadly force can be expeditiously applied, if necessary.

Immediate Action Rapid Deployment tactics should only be established by law enforcement agencies willing to establish clear policy, provide initial and recurrent training in IARD, and provide all first-responding officers with high quality ballistic shields that allow each officer the ability to deliver accurate handgun and/or long-gun firepower when safely positioned behind a lightweight ballistic barrier.

Patrol officers must be capable of neutralizing the threat before any further aggressive action can be taken against innocents, including the officers. Quickly making “contact” is the key to a successful outcome, which is realistically determined by how many innocents are saved, and not by how many are initially murdered and injured prior to the arrival of the first responders. Delaying physical police contact until the armed suicidal individual(s) becomes "active", will lead to a higher casualty count.

Criminals intent upon random killing culminating with suicide present an extremely difficult task for first responding law enforcement officers. Traditional police containment and negotiation type tactics have proven ineffective in stopping a preplanned murderous rampage. It has been generally considered an operational failure when just one innocent victim is killed during an aggressive police rescue response. The inherent reluctance of law enforcement to accept any casualties to innocents during rescue operations actually creates a defensive delay in response, while other less hazardous options are considered. This delay works in favor of the suicidal predators’ planned activities, greatly increasing the likelihood of a higher casualty count.

In the case of suicidal terrorists holding children hostage, releases of some hostages is a planned and calculated event, conducted to allow the terrorists more time to secure the scene of the ultimate carnage while allowing the media sufficient time to broadcast the final mass murder. Delay in establishing close physical contact with suicidal predators can result in granting the criminals additional time to locate and isolate victims while arranging the crime scene in a manner that maximizes death and carnage to the innocent victims, the rescuing officers, and themselves. A running gun battle at the beginning of the event is preferable to allowing suicidal predators the opportunity to control the environment and set up the scene for the ultimate massacre. The first responding officers can have a tremendous positive difference by interrupting the criminal(s) during the early stages of a planned mass murder/suicide event, and ultimately can prevent the mass murders from occurring.